Tavi Gevinson on Loving L.A. and Wren's Film, "Beware of Young Girls"

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A hush fell over the elite fashion crowd hosted at TenOverSix on Melrose last night in Los Angeles, as the lights dimmed and the film, Beware of Young Girls flickered against the white walls. Its pint-sized star—fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson—stood among the group. She appeared like Alice in her own Wonderland, thanks to her blond bangs and straightened locks, and the blue-and-white striped dress (from Wren's spring 2012 collection) that she wore.

'60s-inspired line as well as the film's lead subject, Gevinson. ELLE sat down with the sixteen-year-old Rookie editor, who graces the cover of Bust next month, to talk about her love for L.A., fear of Virgin Mary statues, and what it's like to be a muse.

ELLE: In the upcoming August issue of Bust, you mentioned wanting to move to L.A. after high school. What's the appeal?

Tavi Gevinson: It's such a weird cartoonish city. The palm trees make me think of tall skinny people with big heads, and there are crosses in the sky everywhere. Visually, there's so much around here that inspires me. And, I'm such a geek about all of the Hollywood mystery stuff. I think it's interesting how there's so much crossover with reality. I'm usually not content with just watching a movie; I need to find out about the actors and discover some weird parallels between their lives and their characters' [lives], or whatever.

TG: The first time I came here, I met Kate and Laura Rodarte. They took me to Olvera Street and to a powwow, like a Native American [one]. And this woman made us snow cones. That quickly showed me the other side of L.A. I never related to the 30 Rock, Woody Allen attitude of eye rolling in L.A. It's actually my favorite city.

ELLE: What's something people don't necessarily know about you?

TG: If I see a house with a Virgin Mary statue, I freak out.

ELLE: Why do you have such a strong reaction?

TG: When it comes to how I get dressed or the books and movies I'm interested in, it's really about being a different character and [telling] people's stories. I associate iconography with the virgin suicides a lot. It makes me feel like there are stories in all of the houses on a boring street. And the fact that you really have to seek out those stories is why I like them.

ELLE: What was it like making the short film, Beware of Young Girls?

TG: We shot it at Todd Weaver's house. And, you know, houses here [in L.A.] are pretty close together up on hills. We filmed on the hill behind his house, and then there was a wall of graffiti and a giant Scientology building. It felt very much in the middle of everything, but what I like about the film is that it feels like a very private world. There isn't much of a narrative to it; it's just a series of vignettes that I really like, [featuring scenes of] guitar playing and typewriting.

ELLE: What's your character's story?

TG: [She had] some kind of secret or something she was hiding—something to beware of. The song is actually about Mia Farrow stealing André Previn from Dory Previn, but we didn't want to make this about girl competition. We just wanted it to be an eerie warning.

ELLE: How did it feel to be a muse?

TG: It's not really a feeling. I guess I knew that I was obviously the main person in the movie, but I think, you know, the setting, the house we were in, the weather outside—it was that one gloomy day that L.A. gets every a year—were also inspirations. The music we were listening to, which was a really good mix that Todd had of Fleetwood Mac, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan, and the clothes were muses in a way, too.

ELLE: What was it about the clothes that caught your attention?

TG: Wren clothes have the same kind of secretly dark feel. [For example,] the red coat with the leopard bottom could so easily be really glitzy, but instead something about it is a little subdued. Putting that in a context where it can be mysterious or maybe feel like something this girl found in this old house was exciting to me.

ELLE: What's next for you?

TG: I'm sixteen, and I don't really know what I want yet. I try to take every project as it comes. I like filmmaking and maybe acting, because that's similar to the way I look at fashion and the diorama thing.